Katie J. Wells
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katiejwells.bsky.social
Katie J. Wells
@katiejwells.bsky.social
3K followers 590 following 460 posts
i study how labor platforms shape the way we live in cities. geographer. research director @groundwork.bsky.social. new book: DISRUPTING D.C. (Princeton Univ Press 2023) http://katiejwells.net
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Reposted by Katie J. Wells
alexctaliadoros.bsky.social
I'm glad DC has ranked-choice voting, but it's not true that running for office is a free hit now.

Voters have limited attention, money, and time. And many will still only rank one candidate.

Cross-endorsements mitigate vote dilution — they don't erase it. Don't flood every race with progressives.
alexkoma.bsky.social Alex Koma @alexkoma.bsky.social · 2d
New: Ranked choice voting looks like it's coming to DC next year. What will that mean for 2026?

Candidates are changing their strategies, with more willing to jump into these races if RCV will be in place. Could we see cross-endorsements as we did in NYC? It's on the table:
wamu.org/story/25/12/...
D.C. is poised to use ranked choice voting next year. It’s already reshaping local races
D.C. officials now need to find a way to educate voters on ballots that allow them to select multiple candidates in order of preference.
wamu.org
December 5, 2025 at 7:18 PM
katiejwells.bsky.social
"today’s media crisis wasn’t inevitable but the consequence of policymakers’ embracing a corporate libertarian approach to media policy." 🔥
December 5, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by Katie J. Wells
olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social
there are of course many examples of political constituencies that have in fact killed scores of children (en route to some other evil goal), but I can't offhand think of any historical examples of a political constituency organized for that specific purpose
apoorvanyt.bsky.social Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · 2d
Breaking: After contentious debates and three failed attempts at a vote, a federal vaccine committee decided on Friday to end the decades-long recommendation that all newborns be immunized at birth against hepatitis B.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/h...
An End to Hepatitis B Shots for All Newborns
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Katie J. Wells
ubiquity75.xyz
You may have heard that Trump’s extortion of University of California was defeated in court. But do you know who won this historic case? Spoiler: not a single UC administrator participated. It was all faculty members of the UC Faculty Associations and @aaup.org! Cc: @veenadubal.bsky.social
Behind the Scenes: How UC Faculty Beat Back Trump's Attacks
YouTube video by UC Faculty
youtu.be
December 5, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Reposted by Katie J. Wells
thecity.nyc
One hundred and fifty one children under the age of 18 have been arrested between January and October, with a steep increase beginning in May.
ICE Arrested and Separated Chinese Father From 6-Year-Old Son, Advocates Say
The father and son were detained at an ICE check-in on Nov. 26, advocates say. The son’s location is currently unknown, while the father is being held at an upstate ICE facility.
buff.ly
December 4, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Reposted by Katie J. Wells
adamrothman.bsky.social
"More than 80 percent of the immigrants arrested in D.C. during the surge in federal law enforcement this year had no prior criminal record"
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Most immigrants arrested in Trump’s D.C. crackdown had no criminal records
A Post analysis of federal data shows that the arrests of immigrants with no prior criminal record shot up sixfold during the Trump administration’s crackdown.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:01 AM
katiejwells.bsky.social
"On 3 separate occasions, private guards told the Guardian to move along when parked on what seemed to be public roads. In 1 instance, a guard drove up & walked over to the driverside window. “What are you doing?”...he was wearing Meta’s smart glasses with the red video recording light turned on."
darakerr.bsky.social Dara Kerr @darakerr.bsky.social · 2d
I went to the Nevada desert to see one of the world’s biggest AI data center buildouts. It’s so big it was hard to wrap my mind around.
Downriver is the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and the data centers’ water and power consumption could put their land at risk
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
The AI boom is heralding a new gold rush in the American west
Once home to gold and prospectors, the Nevada desert is now the site of a new kind of expansion: tech datacenters
www.theguardian.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:16 PM
katiejwells.bsky.social
"Maryland’s zero-fare bus programs provide an important model to the incoming Mamdani administration and others who want increased equity in their cities." [email protected] truthout.org/articles/fre...
Free Buses Can Be a Reality — Just Look at Maryland
Zohran Mamdani’s plan for free buses is not a pipe dream. Montgomery County, Maryland, made its buses free this year.
truthout.org
December 4, 2025 at 3:45 PM
katiejwells.bsky.social
"On August 15, the Denver Schools placed separate orders for two bulk cases of dry-erase markers, paying $114.52 for one and $149.07 for the other." ---> such important work. thanks @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social. how i wonder if Instacart does the same to cities, counties, and schools...
stacyfmitchell.bsky.social Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 3d
1. Amazon has become a major force in how cities, counties & schools buy basic supplies. Our new report finds Amazon is using opaque pricing algorithms to drive up costs and eliminate transparency—while harming competition by pushing out better-performing independent suppliers.
Turning Public Money into Amazon’s Profits | Independent Business
Amazon has quietly captured a growing share of government purchasing. This major report explains how, and what to do about it.
ilsr.org
December 4, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Reposted by Katie J. Wells
jchavezmpls.bsky.social
This evening, a resident was kidnapped by agents with face coverings. They disguised themselves in masks and as Uber drivers. They even left kids abandoned inside a car in the freezing cold. 1/
An agent with face coverings and an Uber signage on their car.
December 2, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Reposted by Katie J. Wells
maustermuhle.bsky.social
They say never read the comments. Unless it’s three D.C. councilmembers (who are all running for higher office, two against each other) doing some debating on the merits of the expanded youth curfew on Instagram.
December 3, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Reposted by Katie J. Wells
premthakker.bsky.social
Agents in Key Largo, Florida ripped this woman wearing medical scrubs out of her car as she screamed she is a US citizen. Agents cuffed her and put her in one of their cars.

She was eventually let go, per David Goodhue of the Miami Herald, who also took this footage:
December 3, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Katie J. Wells
stacyfmitchell.bsky.social
Tricking customers with higher prices at the register is a core strategy of Dollar General & Family Dollar.

"Dollar General stores have failed more than 4,300 government price-accuracy inspections in 23 states since January 2022."

Terrific reporting from @barryyeoman.com @theguardian.com
How the dollar-store industry overcharges cash-strapped customers while promising low prices
A Guardian investigation reveals Dollar General and Family Dollar stores often fail to honor their shelf prices – charging more at checkout for everything from frying pans to Frosted Flakes
www.theguardian.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Katie J. Wells
brian-goldstone.bsky.social
Absolutely stunned and honored to see THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US on this list.

I'm grateful beyond words to the five families who trusted me with their stories and allowed me to witness their struggle to secure a home.
The 10 Best Books of 2025
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:42 PM
katiejwells.bsky.social
Thanks so much for including our @rooseveltinstitute.org work on gig nursing. A fav project w/ the brilliant @fundaustek.bsky.social.
December 2, 2025 at 1:51 PM
katiejwells.bsky.social
please join me in being a day 1 supporter. she is the dc we need.
December 1, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Reposted by Katie J. Wells
brian-goldstone.bsky.social
"Homelessness today isn't just the person sleeping outside a Walmart. It's often the cashier or worker stocking the shelves inside."

I joined @pbsnews.org to talk about There Is No Place for Us and the staggering rise of the "working homeless":
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Brian Goldstone appears on a PBS News Weekend, speaking from a room lined with bookshelves. A lower-third caption reads: “BRIAN GOLDSTONE — Journalist and Author, ‘There Is No Place for Us.’”
November 29, 2025 at 11:54 PM
katiejwells.bsky.social
The gift we all need. Subscribe. Support truth-making. It's free.
51st.news The 51st @51st.news · 11d
When DCist was shut down, it had 70,000+ subscribers.
The 51st is proud to carry forward the spirit with which DCist served our city.

But we can’t stop thinking about how most of those subscribers — our neighbors and friends — are just no longer receiving the kind of local news they signed up for.
November 26, 2025 at 1:33 AM
katiejwells.bsky.social
For context on the (private equity- and silicon valley-powered) assault on the nursing industry, "Uber for Nursing." rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
kamimagic.bsky.social kamimagic @kamimagic.bsky.social · 15d
The DOE just cut multiple fields from the “professional degree” list, shrinking loan access for future workers. Nursing, PAs, PT, OT, audiology, public health, social work, & education master’s all got dropped.

And yes, they’re fields dominated by women.
#ProudBlue
www.newsweek.com/nursing-not-...
Nursing is no longer counted as a 'professional degree' by Trump admin
The Department of Education has excluded nursing as a "professional degree" program as it implements various changes to student loans.
www.newsweek.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Reposted by Katie J. Wells
gadyepstein.bsky.social
“We’ve tried to not have to do it, but we've got direct orders,” the masked ICE agents told them www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/i...
"I asked for their names. They didn't give me their full names," Hestmark recalled of the agents. "They didn't show me their badge numbers. They didn't remove their masks. They simply said, 'We have a warrant for his arrest, and they handed me a QR code, and they put my husband in handcuffs. And they took him and said I couldn't follow." "She was just stunned," Paul said. "She kept asking what was wrong, what did we do? We'd done everything right." "We kept asking them if there was something we could do, if there was any way we could keep her from being separated from the family," he continued. We’re just trying to figure out what's happening, and they're just telling us, I'm sorry. We’ve tried to not have to do it, but we've got direct orders."| • "I had to take my baby, our baby, from his crying mother's arms," Paul said. "We were completely shocked, and I feel like we were tricked," Hestmark said. "We went through every possible legal and appropriate channel. We followed the advice of our lawyer. We were told that our case was straight forward." "He just wanted to be part of this country and for us to start our future together. And he wanted to do it… "Tom isn't in the system. I can't find him," Hestmark said. "I can't call him. I can't put money into his account. The lawyer doesn't know how to proceed because he hasn't been charged with anything." Both said their spouses were able to call them Thursday night, and they believed they were still being held in the basement of the federal building as of Friday afternoon. "She said that she was scared. She was anxious, missed her baby. She just wants to come home," Paul said. "She said the agents themselves were in the detention down in the basement of the federal building, saying, What are we doing here? These aren't the sort of people were supposed to be arresting.” "They hadn't given him anything to eat or any information," Hestmark said. "They gave him a mat and a foil blanket to sleep on." As she was detailing his arrest Friday afternoon, Bilger called Hestmark again from detention. She said he told her they had moved him to the Otay Mesa Detention Center and back but he hadn't slept and still hadn't been processed. "My wife's alone and terrified," Paul said. "My baby doesn't have his mom to hold him. I can't work right…
November 25, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Reposted by Katie J. Wells
olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social
we're going to win
carlquintanilla.bsky.social Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 12d
Page One in Cincinnati:

“.. I need to be able to look my grandkids in the eye and say I did not remain silent.”

#ICE
November 25, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Reposted by Katie J. Wells
justinhendrix.bsky.social
"Meta shut down internal research into the mental health effects of Facebook after finding causal evidence that its products harmed users mental health, according to unredacted filings in a lawsuit by US school districts against Meta and other social media platforms." www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
In a 2020 research project code-named “Project Mercury,” Meta (META.O), opens new tab scientists worked with survey firm Nielsen to gauge the effect of “deactivating” Facebook, according to Meta documents obtained via discovery. To the company’s disappointment, “people who stopped using Facebook for a week reported lower feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness and social comparison,” internal documents said. Rather than publishing those findings or pursuing additional research, the filing states, Meta called off further work and internally declared that the negative study findings were tainted by the “existing media narrative” around the company. Privately, however, a staffer insisted that the conclusions of the research were valid, according to the filing. “The Nielsen study does show causal impact on social comparison,” (unhappy face emoji), an unnamed staff researcher allegedly wrote. Another staffer worried that keeping quiet about negative findings would be akin to the tobacco industry “doing research and knowing cigs were bad and then keeping that info to themselves.” Despite Meta’s own work documenting a causal link between its products and negative mental health effects, the filing alleges, Meta told Congress that it had no ability to quantify whether its products were harmful to teenage girls.
November 25, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Reposted by Katie J. Wells
princetonupress.bsky.social
Now available in #paperback, Disrupting D.C. by @katiejwells.bsky.social, Kafui Attoh, and Declan Cullen is a panoramic account of the urban politics and deep social divisions that gave rise to Uber.

Learn more and order yours: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...

#Uber #Sociology
Disrupting D.C.: The Rise of Uber and the Fall of the City by Katie J. Wells, Kafui Attoh, and Declan Cullen
November 24, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Reposted by Katie J. Wells
brian-goldstone.bsky.social
THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US made NPR's Books We Love list!

It's described as a "paradigm-shifting, immersive book" and "a trenchant exploration of how America's disinvestment in public housing and relentless pursuit of free-market growth have fueled housing insecurity for poor working families."
Screenshot from NPR's 2025 Books We Love list: There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America Brian Goldstone In this paradigm-shifting, immersive book, journalist and anthropologist Brian Goldstone follows five families in Atlanta who, despite working full time, struggle to stay housed amid gentrification, a lack of tenants’ rights and low wages. These families, all Black, fall into a “shadow realm” – they are not considered officially homeless by the federal government, but lack a fixed living place as they double up with friends and family, sleep in their cars, or pay exorbitant rates at extended-stay hotels. Woven throughout their stories is a trenchant exploration of how America’s disinvestment in public housing and relentless pursuit of free-market growth have fueled housing insecurity for poor working families.
November 24, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Katie J. Wells
jamiepeck.bsky.social
Pls share: Applications open for Summer Institute in Economic Geography, Toronto, 5-10 July 2026

Featuring: Lars Coenen, Karen Lai, Devika Narayan and Stefan Ouma

Early career economic geographers (broadly defined) are welcome to apply. Stipends available. www.econgeog.net/Toronto2026
Toronto 2026 | Summer Institute in Economic Geography
www.econgeog.net
October 16, 2025 at 3:47 PM